Malaysian plane revives memories of Upali Wijewardene who disappeared

The disappearance of flight MH 370 may also bring back memories from 1983 and the disappearance of the Lear Jet L35 A which also departed from Kuala Lumpur before vanishing without a trace.

The L35 A Lear Jet from which nothing has been heard of todate, was carrying Sri Lanka’s top entreprenuer at the time, Upali Wijewardena.

The Lear Jet took off from Kuala Lumpur at 8:41 p.m. on Februrary 13, 1983, en route to Colombo.

According to media reports from the time, the flight disappeared on radar screens fifteen minutes after take off. There has been no trace of it since.

Just as many nations have come forward at present to look for flight MH 370, in 1983 too, a broad search operation involving the US, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and other nations was undertaken in search of the L35, a Lear Jet.

With the discovery of a wheel suspected to have belonged to the jet near the Pulau Pandung islands on February 21, 1983, experts surmised that the jet may have exploded mid-air.

However, it was discovered that the wheel strut had not been manufactured by the company that manufactured the jet.

Thirty years later, the fate that befell the seven people on board including Upali Wijewardena, remains a mystery.